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New Year Soba (Toshikoshi Soba)

Slurp in the New Year with this traditional noodle dish made from buckwheat soba noodles in a hot dashi, mirin and soy sauce soup. Garnished with spring onion and kamaboko fish cake, New Year Soba symbolises wishes for good luck in the year ahead.

Of course soba isn’t just delicious at New Year, it makes a delicious and warming meal all year round. It is also lower in calories and gluten than other noodles, making it a healthy meal alternative!

How to prepare

In a large pan, make your dashi stock. Next, add the mirin and simmer gently for a few minutes. Now add the sugar and let it dissolve before adding the soy sauce. This makes the soup for your soba noodles.

In separate pan bring 1l of water to the boil. Add the soba, stir them slightly to make sure they’re all spread out around the pot. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for around 8 minutes. Cooking times may vary depending on your noodles, so check the instructions on the packet.

Drain the noodles and rinse them in cold water, gently rubbing the noodles to remove any excess starch on the surface. Next, thinly slice the spring onions and any other garnishes.

Gently re-heat the stock and pour into bowls, then add the noodles and garnish with your spring onions and tempura flakes

Tips and information

• If you’d like to make your New Year’s Soba extra special, why not serve it with some Japanese Marinated Duck? Duck is a traditional accompaniment to soba and easy to make in advance.

• If you want ultra authentic flavour for your dashi stock, why not try our homemade dashi recipe? Alternatively, if you’re short on time, replace the soy sauce, mirin and sugar with tsuyu sauce. Just use a ratio of 1 part tsuyu to 5 parts dashi stock when making your soba noodle soup.